Husbandry

Guichenot, 1863

Chaetodon melapterus, also known as Black-finned Melon Butterflyfish, Blackfin Butterflyfish and Arabian Butterflyfish is to be found in the middle of the Red Sea down and around Yemen, Oman into the Persian Gulf, this is another "principally coral polyp feeder".

The body of the Arabian Butterflyfish is oval shaped, bright orange-yellow with head dark purple to black with two orange bands vertically. Pectorals hyaline, others including caudal are dark brown-black, banded exteriorally orange.

The Arabian Butterflyfish should never be taken out of the ocean as they eat nothing but corals and chances of survival are almost zero. There isn’t a reason that any store should be selling any of these Butterfly fish.

Remarks:

Butterflyfish are not recommended for reefs as they will pick at or eat a wide variety of corals, fan worms, and other invertebrates. Most Butterflyfish are known to pick at Aiptaisia, a parasitic anemone.